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Interface News Reporter | Chen Qirui

Interface News Editor | Lou Qiqin

Norwegian outdoor sports brandHelly HansenThere is no shortage of jackets but there is a lack of hot models. Now it will place its hopes on newOdinseries.

OdinIt's not a new name, it was alreadyHelly HansenThe main series of jackets. The new point is,Helly HansenRecently announced the launch of a newOdinThis professional-grade hard-shell jacket is emphasized in its publicity as the equipment used by the Chinese National Geographic Scientific Expedition Team in Motuo, Tibet.

pastHelly HansenIt is not often emphasized in marketing for jackets“Professional”This matter.“Jackets”Searching for keywords, the results show that there are many jacket-related contents combined with urban, matching, and fashion. The description of professionalism is mostly attached with a product picture.“water proof”、“Keep warm”'s caption.

Even the emphasis on professional content is similar.

For example“ARCVSea Pioneer Series”, the caption says“Professional-grade protection”, but the model's shape and posture in the picture look like a fashion film.“Professional”The style of the jacket described isH2Explorer，Helly HansenIn one of the microblogs,“Take a great photo every time you go to the wild”。

What do other brands do when they say they are professional? The common practice is to invite professional outdoor athletes to shoot documentaries, hold outdoor theme forums, and launch community activities. Depending on the brand tone, Arc'teryx will do a more hardcore job, while Kolon's visual image is more relaxed, but also closely related to outdoor scenes such as camping and hiking.

Helly HansenIt’s not that we haven’t done similar things, but when it comes to product promotion strategies and the visual and textual presentation of related materials, it creates a split feeling.——What they sell is a professional product, and the text says that it is suitable for wearing in urban scenes; the images shot are just images, and the scenes are shot outdoors, but the actual impression given is far from the outdoors.

It is not difficult to understand whyHelly HansenThere will be such a move. One of the reasons for the success of outdoor brands such as Arc'teryx and Salomon in recent years is their fashionable packaging based on professional attributes. The Arc'teryx hard shell, originally used to deal with extreme situations, has become a trendy item, and Salomon, which serves professional running scenes, is now“The three treasures of the middle class”。

Now not onlyHelly Hansen, even the same Amer SportsWilsonandPeak PerformanceAll of them are more or less following the ideas of Arc'teryx and Salomon. However, Arc'teryx had already established a good reputation in the professional circle before it came out, while a series of new brands directly played the fashion card of highlighting the outfit. Not only did their professionalism not get fully demonstrated, but they also had many more competitors from the fashion field.

Currently, Youngor Group is responsible forHelly HansenOperations and production in Greater China.

Youngor Group has invested a lot of resources.Helly HansenNot only is the expansion rapid, but many stores are also opened in BeijingSKPand Ningbo Hankyu and other high-end shopping malls. This seems to be the common idea that Youngor Group applies to the brands it invests in. Another trendy brand with sports attributesUNDEFEATEDThey are also entering mid- to high-end shopping malls intensively.

However, judging from the current results,Helly HansenThere is still a big gap between it and the leading brands in the outdoor industry. Its official Weibo and Xiaohongshu accounts only have3860and3239fans; invested a lot of resources in opening stores in high-end shopping malls and did a lot of fashion-oriented marketing, but still failed to produce a hit product.

This makes the newOdinProfessional hard shell jacket series andHelly HansenCompared to previous products, it seems like an outlier. But nowHelly HansenIt is indeed time to consider how to project a professional image.

Choosing a jacket is a shortcut. Data from Jiuqian’s middle platform shows that Tmall, JD.com, and Douyin are2022Total sold in the year719Ten thousand jackets,2023In 2010, it jumped to2049Thanks to the popularity of brands such as Arc'teryx, jackets have become associated with outdoor sports.Helly HansenOn this basis, it is logical to use "hard shell" products to emphasize the professional attributes of output.

according to“lateLatePost”Reported in2023In the autumn and winter of 2018, Tmall’s outdoor clothing category100Among the transaction amount of RMB80Yuan was spent on jackets, including80%The consumers of jackets are new customers.Helly HansenThis is why they chose jackets as a category that emphasizes professionalism.OdinThe series has already gained a certain amount of popularity.

However, in the fiercely competitive outdoor sportswear market, Chinese consumers have already experienced all marketing methods. Fashion shows, joint ventures and social marketing are nothing new, and so are professional technology attributes. It is normal for outdoor brands to say that their jackets are waterproof, windproof and warm, and some of them have extended emergency functions.

It is worth mentioning that, precisely because everyone is“Professionalism”Some brands want to differentiate themselves by going the fashion route, but the fashion outdoor track is now crowded. This is like a vicious circle. The leading brands in the industry can still enjoy the dividends for a period of time by virtue of their first-mover advantage, but new entrants find it difficult to find a way out.

Helly HansenThis is a case of swaying in the middle, and it will not be the only one. Judging from the current situation, although these new brands have not yet reached the moment of breaking out of the circle, they should start to consider how to find new ideas in the homogenized operation mode. The best result may be that some of them will be born with the first-mover advantage in the new model.